Threads, the new social media competitor to Twitter by Meta, has reached 70 million signups in less than 3 days according to MarketWatch. The app is not available in the European Union yet due to regulatory issues, which makes its number of signups particularly high.
Meta’s strategy has been to offer an alternative to Twitter, where the old rules of content moderation remain in force. On the other hand, Meta has notoriously been collecting vast amounts of personal data that have privacy advocates nervous. Meta’s business model remains focused on advertising, unlike Twitter which is gradually shifting to a subscription-based model.
The release of Threads adds to a long rivalry between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Musk challenged Zuckerberg to a literal fight in June 20th, which Zuckerberg accepted. It remains to be seen if the match will actually take place.
Threads, which had previously banned an account tracking Elon Musk’s private jet, has restored it. Musk had previously accused similar accounts of being potential tools for assassins, sparking a question between privacy and the public’s right to know.
Threads has also already been accused of censoring right-wing accounts. While it did backtrack the bans, this has already solidified Twitter as a more open forum for discussion, though not without its technical problems.
